Apparatus for producing stitching patterns with sewing machine removing means

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to an apparatus for producing stitching patterns on fabric workpieces in which a sewing machine is mounted with its working face in the same plane as the supporting face of a table on which the fabric to be stitched is located. The sewing machine is contained or mounted on a frame in such a way that it can be moved laterally with respect to the surface of the table from an inner position where it can cooperate with the surface of the supporting table and an outer position where it is located or positioned completely outside of the confines of the supporting structure. The movement of the sewing machine between one position and the other can be effected by any suitable means such as hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders or by reversible electric motor if desired. Also included is a safety inner lock system that prevents the sewing machine from becoming automatically operated when it is located in a position outside the supporting frame.

United States Patent [191 REMOVING MEANS [22] Filed Inventor:

Assignee:

Nel'ino Marforio, Milan, Italy S.p.A. Virginio Rimoldi & C., Milan,

Italy May 17, 1972 App]. No.: 253,965

Foreign Application Priority Data June 18, 1971 Italy 26013 A/7lReferences Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Popkin ll2/l2l.l4

Weis ll2/12l l4 Kalning et al.. ll2/l2l.l4 X

Whitehead l12/l2l.l4 Cash, Jr. 1l2/l2l.l4

Marforio Jan. 8, 1974 APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING STITCHING 3,395,658 8/1968Lee et 111 112/121.14 PATTERNS wrm s wm MACHINE 3.450.080 6/1969 Klose112/2 X Primary Examiner-Werner H. Schroeder [57] ABSTRACT Thisinvention relates to an apparatus for producing stitching patterns onfabric workpieces in which a sewing machine is mounted with its workingface in the same plane as the supporting face of a table on which thefabric to be stitched is located. The sewing machine is contained ormounted on a frame in such a way that it can be moved laterally withrespect to the surface of the table from an inner position where it cancooperate with the surface of the supporting table and an outer positionwhere it is located or positioned completely outside of the confines ofthe supporting structure. The movement of the sewing machine between oneposition and the other can be effected by any suitable means such ashydraulic or pneumatic cylinders or by reversible electric motor ifdesired. Also included is a safety inner lock system that prevents thesewing machine from becoming automatically operated when it is locatedin a position outside the supporting frame.

5 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJAN 8 I974 SHEEI 1 [1F 2 1 APPARATUSFOR PRODUCING STITCHING PATTERNS WITH SEWING MACHINE REMOVING MEANS Thepresent invention relates to an apparatus for producing stitchingpatterns with sewing machine removing means and in particular the resultwe want to accomplish is that of carrying out the operations ofthreading. replacement of needles and everyday maintenance of the sewingmeans on the sewing machine in the shortest time possible.

Up to now apparatuses of the kind, in which the workpieces or fabricswere moved on the work supporting surface along predetermined paths andin which the sewing machine was designedto be inserted into the saidsupporting surface and in a line with it,

, have shown troubles as to the threading operation and the everydaymaintenance because of the limited accessibility to the partsof the saidmachine due to the position of the said machine which was fixed to thework supporting surface.

In these well known apparatuses the accessibility to the bottom sewingmeans was possible only-if a part of the work supporting surface nearthe said machine was removed.

The aim of the present invention instead is to design an apparatus ofthe kind mentioned with easieraccessibility to the bottom sewing partsof the sewing machine without the need to remove or at least change thework supporting surface near the'base of the said sewing machine.

The solution of this technical problem consists in designing anapparatus for producing stitching patterns in which there are means tomove the machine out of its work position or station. The said meanscomprises a special pneumatic or similar control and a safety deviceconnected with the starting of the machine to stop it just after themachine starts its move away from the said work position.

Further aims and characteristics of the present inven I With referenceto FIG. 1, the apparatusfor producing stitching patterns includes asupporting structure or frame 1 which includes a work supporting surface2. It is on surface 2 that, at each working cycle, the workpiece orfabric is made to slide by means of a clamp 3 which is fixed to adrivingcarriage 4. The driving carriage 4 is mounted and can slide on arectlinear guide, 5 for movement from a loading station to the unloadingstation. During this movement, the fabric or workpiece passes the sewingstation where there is located a sewing machine 6. Movement of carriage4 is effected by means of a driving device, such as a chain 7, which isdriven by a motor 8 and is fixed to the said carriage 4 by means of aspecial coupling 9 operated by a control 10.

The clamp 3 is mounted on the carriage 4 by means of telecopic-likedevices 11 suitable to impart those' movements which are given to-theclamp 3 by a suitable guiding element 12 guiding element l2reproducingthe contour of the seam to be obtained. The carriage 4 during itslongitudinal movements from one station to the other carries the clamp 3near the sewing machine 6 where the guiding element 12 engages with alocator 13 which is fixed to the said machine and whose function is togive lateral movement to the clamp 3, according to the contour of theguiding element 12. The seam obtained by the combined movement given tothe clamp 3 is in line with the guiding element 12.

Furthermore the sewing machine is fitted with a sensing element 14 madeup in particular of a photocell which tells the presence or the absenceof the workpiece or fabric near the needle 15 of the said machine. Thesaid sensing element 14 is connected with the driving means 16of thesaidmachine which are formed by an electric motor 17 fitted with apulley 18linked-by means of a driving belt 19 with the handwheel 20 ofthe said machine. Underneath the motor 17 is hinged with a pin 21 to abracket 22 fastened by standards23 on a supporting plate 24 on which thesaid machine 6 is placed by means of shock absorbers 25.

The motor 17 is also fitted with the usual couplingluncoupling lever 26which is lowered when the machine has to work, while it is left free tocome up when the machine 'must be stopped. The working movements of thesaid lever can be imparted by any kind of electromagnetic or pneumaticdevice (not shown) provided it is suitably connected with the abovementioned sensing element 14. The relation existing between theworkpiece when near the needle 15 and the driving means 16 is of a kindthat when the initial part of the said workpiece being held by the clamp3 comes to correspond to the position of the sensing element 14, thelatter, being triggered, excites the mentioned electromagnetic orpneumatic means, which in turn lowers the lever 26 with the consequentcoupling of the machine 6. Viceversa, when the back part of the saidworkpiece moves away from thesensitive element 14. at the end of theseam, the latter stops the machine. The supporting plate 24 is mountedon the supporting bracket 1 at such a height that the functional fabricsupporting top 27 of the machine base 6 is exactly in line with the worksupporting surface 2 of the said supporting bracket.

The said supporting plate 24 is also fitted with a pair of wheels orrollers 28 running in a rail 29 fixed to the supporting bracket 1.Underneath the said plate 24 there are positioned means 30 suitable tomove the sewing machine 6 from .its work position. The said means 30 canbe any suitable type of reciprocable driving mechanism but forconvenience are here described as being formed by a cylinder 31 fixed tothe said bracket and a sliding piston 32 fixed to an angle bar 33 whichis on its turn fixed to the plate 24. The cylinder 31 is linked by meansof two ducts 34 and 35 with a pneumatic control 36 made up of a valve 37linked on its turn with a usual feeding system for the compressed air 38and'a usual lever which can be manually operated and is designed tochange the inner position of the said valve in order to exchange theconnection of the said system with the duct 34 or the duct 35. Theconnection of the cylinder 31 with the system'38 is normally realizedthrough the duct 34 so that the piston 32 is quite in a retractedposition, that is, pressed against the left part of the cylinder 31. inthis position of the piston 32, the sewing machine is held in a workposition and is incontact with the work supporting surface 2. If weoperate the lever 39 counterbalancing the action of a returning spring40 the valve 37 sends air into the cylinder 31 through the duct 35 whichmakes this air flow on to the piston 32 on the side opposite to theprevious one, and at the same time it discharges to the atmosphere theair already contained in the said cylinder through the duct 34 and anadjustable discharging valve 41. The said adjustable valve 41 canregulate the speed of the machine moving away. The piston 32 is drivento the right together with the plate 24 which runs in the rail 29 thuscausing the moving of the machine from the said work supporting surface2. In order to avoid that the manual operations carried out on thesewing means can interfere with the sensing element 14 and thereforestart the machine when it is not in the work position, there is designeda safety device, for example a micro-switch 42 fixed, to the plate 24and suitably inserted in the control circuit (not shown) connecting thesensitive element 14 with the coupling/uncoupling lever 26 of theelectric motor 17. More exactly, when the sewing machine 6 is in theposition shown in the figure, the micro-switch 42 is pressed against astandard of the bracket 1 and therefore it is closed so that thepositions of the workpiece can positively activate the sensitive element14 and thus start or stop the working of the machine; viceversa, as soonas the machine is moved away from its working position (to the right),the micro-switch 42 being not pressed any more against the mentionedstandard of the bracket 1 opens and thus interrupts the connectionbetween the sensitive element 14 and the driving means connected withthe lever 26.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus for producing stitching patterns on fabric workpiecesincluding a supporting frame having a work surface on which theworkpieces are disposed and a sewing machine having a functional fabricsupporting top for stitching the workpieces as they are moved past thesewing machine, the combination comprising:

a. drive means for operating said sewing machine,

b. means slidably supporting said sewing machine on said supportingframe for movement between a fixed operating position where its fabricsupporting top is positioned in an inner position to cooperate with thework surface of said support frame and a position where said sewingmachine is located in an outer position substantially removed from saidsupporting frame,

c. means separate from said drive means for moving said sewing machinebetween said inner and outer position when desired, said moving meansbeing actuated independently from said driving means,

d. means preventing the actuation of said driving means as soon as saidsewing machine begins to move forward toward its outermost position fromits innermost position.

2. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said slidable supportingmeans includes a pair of supporting rails extending generallytransversely to the direction of workpiece travel and rollers which ridein said rails to provide for movement of said machine between said innerand said outer positions.

3. An apparatus as described in claim 1 wherein said moving meanscomprises a pneumatic cylinder.

4. An apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein control means are providedwhich are operably connected to said pneumatic cylinder to cause it tomove in one direction or the other.

5. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said means preventingoperation of said sewing machine when it is in its outermost position isa microswitch.

1. In an apparatus for producing stitching patterns on fabric workpiecesincluding a supporting frame having a work surface on which theworkpieces are disposed and a sewing machine having a functional fabricsupporting top for stitching the workpieces as they are moved past thesewing machine, the combination comprising: a. drive means for operatingsaid sewing machine, b. means slidably supporting said sewing machine onsaid supporting frame for movement between a fixed operating positionwhere its fabric supporting top is positioned in an inner position tocooperate with the work surface of said support frame and a positionwhere said sewing machine is located in an outer position substantiallyremoved from said supporting frame, c. means separate from said drivemeans for moving said sewing machine between said inner and outerposition when desired, said moving means being actuated independentlyfrom said driving means, d. means preventing the actuation of saiddriving means as soon as said sewing machine begins to move forwardtoward its outermost position from its innermost position.
 2. Anapparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said slidable supporting meansincludes a pair of supporting rails extending generally transversely tothe direction of workpiece travel and rollers which ride in said railsto provide for movement of said machine between said inner and saidouter positions.
 3. An apparatus as described in claim 1 wherein saidmoving means comprises a pneumatic cylinder.
 4. An apparatus as definedin claim 3 wherein control means are provided which are operablyconnected to said pneumatic cylinder to cause it to move in onedirection or the other.
 5. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein saidmeans preventing operation of said sewing machine when it is in itsoutermost position is a microswitch.